


Freezer Burn

by asheface



Series: Freezer Burn [1]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Chinese!SS, Eventual Sex, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Heart-to-Heart, Mutual Pining, Other, Recreational Drug Use, Scarred!SS, Slow Burn, Smut, Team Bonding, maybe more tags later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2018-11-10 09:33:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11124468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asheface/pseuds/asheface
Summary: A collection of chapters featuring my D&D-character-turned-Sole-Survivor Wei, who is now a Chinese American combat medic adventuring through the Commonwealth. As a note, there will definitely be canon alterations, though most of them will be fairly small. Chapters also may not be linear, since I am writing as I come up with ideas (though a few int he beginning will have a more clear timeline). This is mainly a thing I'm writing for fun, but I hope you enjoy!Btw, this is all because I read Death in a Duster by ComeHItherAshes on here. I highly recommend reading their stuff!





	1. The Thaw

Wei remembers Sanctuary Hills, its pristine lawns, pastel houses, and polite yet suspicious neighbors. Those old-fashioned Americans, with their polite yet strained smiles, their prolonged stares, and their venomous whispers. Life for two Chinese-Americans raising a baby in a neighborhood like that was stressful, to say the least, no matter how long you served or how many bullet wounds you received and stitched. But she’s never been one to run away, especially when other people wanted her to.

Wei remembers running, sprinting, with her husband at her side and their son in her arms. Her heart was practically leaping out of her chest, while her stomach felt like it was in her knees. The sirens blared in her ears, and she didn’t even think twice about the Vault-Tec at the gate. All that mattered was that they were safe. That Zhuo was safe. That little Li was safe. They donned the vault suits, a little tighter than she would have liked. She kissed her baby on his head, and handed him to Zhuo. She squeezed his shoulder and whispered, “I love you. Both of you.” He smiled, nervousness in his eyes, “We love you too.” They kissed, they got into the pods, and they went to sleep.

Wei remembers waking, confused and disoriented, her teeth chattering and her skin still wet from the frost. She looked at her hands, and saw them shake; unusual for someone with hands so steady they could thread a needle in the dark. When she looked up and saw Zhou in the pod across with Li in his arms, she almost sighed in relief. But there were two others -- two people she didn’t remember -- and they opened the pod, trying to force Li from her husband’s hands. Weakly, she beat on the window with her fist, and when the bald man shot Zhuo in the heart, she felt her own shatter and break. With both hands she pounded, and she felt her face contort in rage and fury as she hurled the worst threats she could think of to a deaf audience. “At least we still have the backup,” he said, but in response she only spat at the window, earning her a chuckle. When the cryo began again, she felt a sharp pain as the jet of cold air hit her face, but could not know why until much, much later. She slept again.

Wei remembers waking once more, alarms sounding in the empty halls and the worst pain she had ever felt coursing through her entire right side. It took her a bit, but she managed to claw her way out of the pod and over to Zhuo’s. When it opened she wanted to cry, should have cried, but that had to wait. Instead, she took his ring, made a promise of vengeance, and moved through the vault. She gathered enough supplies to keep her safe, stepped out into the open world with a Pip Boy on her arm, and gasped. It was all gone. When she finally made it down to her old house, she was both surprised and relieved to see Codsworth still there, tending to the long dead garden. He would have been happy to see her as well, but instead of a “good day, mum!” she was greeted with “my god, what has happened to you?” When she looked at her reflection in his remarkably chrome shell, she froze. Her face -- half of her fucking face -- looked like someone had just ripped the skin clean off, and there was more blood starting to show through the blue of her jumpsuit. 

Wei remembers lying on dusty cushions, completely naked as Codsworth helped her apply bandages. The damage was extensive, but it wouldn’t take long for it to scar over, thanks to medical advances that were remarkably still around after the war. She never expected her overstocked first aid kit to come in handy quite like this. The robot had waited until Wei was lying down -- almost completely bandaged except for her left eye and most of her left side – before he told her the news. 200 years, or rather, 210; that was how long she was out, and with no way of knowing when or where Li was taken, she just stared at the ceiling in shock. She was at a loss, everything seemed like it was impossible. Frozen in stasis for over two centuries, her husband dead, her son gone, and the world completely destroyed. Codsworth tried to reassure her, tried to say that not all was lost. There were still people out there, although things looked grim and harsh, and there was still a chance that Li was out there too. But Wei looked at the rubble around her, at the green clouds beginning to roll in from the horizon, and she recalled what it had looked like before. Those green lawns, those annoying neighbors, those happy smiles on her loved ones faces.

Wei remembers. And she cries.


	2. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A transition chapter, still shaking the dust off my writing skills. Wei's spent a little while recovering, and thankfully it won't take too much longer for her injuries to scar over, since she had a secured and overstocked first aid kit back at her house. But she's running low on supplies, and has to make her way into Concord. When she comes across people asking for her help, her untrusting nature rears its ugly head, and so does a Deathclaw.

It took about a week for Wei to be able to move around without too much trouble. Being stuck in a broken bed for that long while Codsworth tried to find enough food and water for her to survive was difficult, but sleeping even more so. Waking up every hour wracked with pain was starting to get real old, plus she was starting to get antsy, and they were going to run out of supplies soon. Thankfully, she managed to convince Codsworth that she was well enough to go scavenging. 

“I’ve brought some travel clothes for you mum. I do hope they fit.” Codsworth floated into the room and set down a set of clothes: an army green duster, an offwhite collared shirt, black pants, combat boots, and a few belts of ammunition “Also, I do apologize for the smell. There was a man just outside the neighborhood who was wearing them and, well, he wasn’t really alive.”

Wei almost smiled. “Thanks for the warning.” She got up slowly, still trying to get a feel for her range of movement with her injuries healing. Wei has always been a woman of high constitution, so by now she could get past most of the pain. She looked off to the side at the cracked mirror that Codsworth had managed to find. Her entire right side was covered in bandages, as well as her stomach and chest, with the faint color of blood below the white cloth showing the true extent of her injuries. Her face was almost entirely concealed by bandages as well, except for her left eye, and the ones around her mouth were loose enough for her to be able to eat and drink. Out of the bandages on top of her head flowed long, surprisingly silky black hair, all the way down to the middle of her chest. Codsworth had done a fairly competent job at saving the sides of her head, so as to not have her hair disturb any of the bindings while healing. She suspected she would look like some sort of punk once the bandages came off, but the thought of looking a bit alternative didn’t bother her much at this point. With a sigh, she picked up the clothes laid out for her and began to dress. Once she was fully clothed, she grabbed the pistol that she had retrieved from the vault, and loaded it. 

“I’m heading into Concord for supplies. Hold down the fort until I get back.”

“As you wish, mum.” Codsworth paused. “Oh, and there did appear to be a dog down by the old Red Rocket gas station, should you choose to maybe take him along.”

Wei cocked an eyebrow. “A dog? Is it… normal?”

“It appeared so, mum. A German Shepherd, I believe.”

Wei pondered the thought for a moment. “Was never a big fan of dogs… But what the hell, I’ll see if he’s friendly.”

“Do be careful, mum. And happy hunting.” Codsworth did the best salute he could manage, and Wei set off on her mission. First stop, Red Rocket.

\----------

“Preston, another wave is coming in.”

A long, tired sigh escaped the chest of Preston Garvey, the only remaining member of the Minutemen. Taking off his militia cap briefly to run a hand through his short hair to rid himself of the excess sweat, he proceeded to load another fusion cell into his rifle. “I’m not sure how much longer we can last, Sturges.”

“Yeah, I know, I’m on my last few rounds, too.” Sturges replied, reloading his own gun. “Maybe we should make a break for it?”

“You know Mama Murphy won’t be able to keep up if we do.” Preston frowned.

Sturges hung his head low. “I know that too. But maybe some of us would— “ 

“If it comes to that, then I’ll be the one staying behind. To buy you all a little more time.” Preston said pointedly.

“No need to worry. Soon we’ll have a way out of this mess. A woman with one eye, face made from streams of white and red.” Mama Murphy mused.

“Quiet! No more of your stupid visions!”

Preston sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Marcy please, just leave her be.”

“Why should I? The only reason we’re even out here is because of her!” Marcy snapped. 

“We have to work together if we want to make it out of this, Marcy. You know that.” Preston pleaded.

“I still don’t see why we’ve come all this way over a stupid vision. We should never have come this way, we should have gone to Diamond City, and we should have— ”

“Uhhh… what is that?”

Preston looked to the corner of the room at Jun Long who was peering out through a crack in the wood. He walked over and looked through a window on the same wall, and almost fell backwards when he realized what he saw; a person with only one eye showing, their face almost completely hidden by white, blood covered bandages.

“Well I’ll be damned… Looks like the cavalry’s here.”

\----------

“Shit, shit, shit!”

Wei dove into the building with Dogmeat close behind, hastily reloading her pistol before peering past the frame and shooting a raider square between the eyes.

“Good thing I grabbed enough ammo, eh Dogmeat? How you doing?”

Dogmeat barked, before tearing into a raider down the hall.

Wei smirked. “Good boy, let’s make our way through, grab whatever we can.”

After sweeping the halls for the remaining raiders, even picking the lock on the door to the basement to grab the fusion core, they reached the last room in the building. She looked over to Dogmeat and nodded, to which he gave an eager growl towards the door. She reached out for the handle, was surprised to find it unlocked, and carefully opened the door with her pistol drawn and ready to fire.

“Wait! Don’t shoot!”

Wei stopped, and took a moment to scan the room. There were four, no, five people, two of them armed. She narrowed her eye suspiciously at the people with guns, until one of them spoke up.

“It’s okay, we’re not raiders.” The mechanic said.

Wei glanced down at Dogmeat, and saw that he was wagging his tail, which was good enough for her at the moment. She holstered her pistol and spoke. “Who are you?”

“The name’s Sturges.” He gestured around the room. “This here is Mama Murphy, Marcy Long, Jun Long, and Preston Garvey of the Minutemen.”

The one he called Preston tipped his hat. “Man, are we glad you showed up. We were starting to lose hope.”

Wei looked over at the man and woman in the corner. “Long… Chinese?”

Marcy raised a brow, and Jun spoke up. “Y-Yes.”

Wei’s stance relaxed a little more, but not much, and she looked back at Preston. “Why are you here?”

Preston blinked. “Might we get your name first? You know ours.”

Wei pondered this a moment. “Wei. My name is Wei.”

Seemingly satisfied, Preston smiled and continued. “Well, we’re trying to find a new place to settle. And Mama Murphy said we’d find a good home in Sanctuary Hills.”

“Hm. Well supplies are low there, but there’s no raiders at least.” Wei shrugged.

“See Preston? I told you we’d find a way.” Mama Murphy winked. 

“Yeah well, typically your visions don’t include puns of that caliber.” Sturges chuckled.

We rolled her eye. “Anyway…. Have a plan for getting out of here?”

Sturges rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, there’s a suit of power armor and a detached minigun, but we don’t have a fusion core to power it. And the only one we know of is behind a locked door.”

Wei reached into her pack and pulled out a small cylinder. “Like this?”

Preston whistled. “Well now. I don’t know how you managed to get ahold of the one in the basement, but we’ll learn a little more about you when we finally get to Sanctuary.”

“Doubtful.” Wei said flatly. “Where’s the power armor?”

“On the roof.” Sturges replied. “But be careful.”

Wei scoffed. “I’m a soldier, I’ll be fine. Watch Dogmeat.”

The dog barked and rubbed up against Preston, who seemed unbothered by the sudden affection. “We’re counting on you.”

Wei put up her hand in farewell, and starting making her way to the roof. 

Although she had spent a few years in the army, Wei had never been inside a suit of power armor. She had heard stories from Zhuo, about how tired his arms always were afterwards, how it was difficult to breath at first because you were trying to compensate for more weight than you could manage, with a body you weren’t used to. She couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sadness, thinking that maybe he would have been better off here than she would be. But she shook the thoughts of him out of her mind, popped the fusion core into the suit, and climbed inside. He was right; it was a very odd experience. When she reached down to pick up the detached minigun, she had expected it to feel so much heavier than it did, but picked it up with a fair amount of ease. 

“Okay… maybe this won’t be so bad.” She walked over to the edge and made note of all the remaining raiders, and began firing. Their screams of pain and terror still managed to cut through the sound of the gun, but Wei was not phased; she just kept at it, until it seemed like there was no one left but the two stragglers at the back. With one big jump, she landed just ahead of the doors to the building, and began a slow walk to the remaining threat. But when she lifted the minigun to begin another assault, a large black hand swiped from the sewers, grabbing a raider and pulling him down with a yelp. She froze in place, as a huge monster, claws and mouth dripping with blood, emerged from the shadows with a roar. It took a moment to grab at the last raider alive, and just tore him in half like he was paper. Once it had finished, it snapped its head in Wei’s direction, and gave a loud shriek that made her heart stop.

It charged at her, and before Wei could react, she was pinned to the ground by the force of its tackle. It took a few swipes at her, but couldn’t quite get past the armor. Wei snapped out of her shocked state, and managed to let loose another wave of bullets from the gun, practically turning the abomination’s body into swiss cheese. When the beast had finally stopped moving, she took a moment to breathe before attempting to shove it off of her; but she was too weak, her arms were shaking and she could feel blood starting to trickle down her right arm.

“You did it!”

Wei turned her head to see Preston and Sturges running towards her, but Dogmeat was way ahead of them. The dog leapt up to her face and began licking, nearly taking her bandages off her head with his tongue.

“Hey, no, down!” Sturges came up and wrapped his arms around the dog’s torso, pulling him back to earth and looking Wei in the face with a smile. But his happy expression fell when his gaze shifted, and he saw her arm. “Oh shit, you okay? That Deathclaw get ya?”

“Deathclaw… What the FUCK is a Deathclaw?!” Wei grunted, still trying to move the corpse.

Preston finally came up to the group, and motioned for Sturges to help him. The two men placed their hands under the monster, and they lifted like a couple of movers trying to get a couch through a doorway. Once it was out of the way, they started getting Wei out of the power armor. 

“What you just killed is called a Deathclaw. An experiment made by the military, pre-war.” Preston explained as they opened up the suit. Their grip on Wei slipped a few times, since her one arm was slick with her own blood, but they managed not to drop her. Putting one of Wei’s arms over his shoulder to help her stand, Preston continued. “They were supposed to be some sort of top-secret weapon or something, but they’ve been running loose for a while now. It’s a miracle you survived.” 

“Where are ya hurt?” Sturges asked, examining her closely.

She attempted to turn away from his prying gaze, but to no avail. “Under my bandages… I think the fight may have torn my wounds back open.”

“Well you’re in no shape to get back into the power armor. Might just make it worse.” Preston gave a nod to Sturges, who then entered the power armor himself. “We’ll take it with us back to Sanctuary. You’re coming too, right? Can you walk?”

Wei shoved herself off of Preston and wobbled a bit, but remained standing. After a few slow, painful steps away from the man, she looked up at him. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

Preston frowned, but it seemed he decided not to press the issue. “I’ll go get the others. We’ll head out in a few minutes, be right back.” And with one final worried look at Wei, he walked back into the building, with Sturges following behind a few paces back.

Once it seemed like no one was watching, Wei looked down at her arm and rolled up her sleeves. Her bandages had definitely been dislodged, taking scabbed skin with them, and she cursed under her breath. Codsworth was going to be very upset, now they’d have to tear up the good linens to replace her bindings. She sighed and looked down at Dogmeat, who was panting and wiggling with excitement.

“Well, at least one of us is happy about this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this wasn't too painful to read, a looooot of setup in this one. I promise to have those drawings up soon, just been having a hard time getting myself to do it. Next chapter we'll see exactly how most of Wei's interactions with other people will go, aka why Wei doesn't have many friends


	3. Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sturges and Preston are unsure if they should trust their new friend, just as she is unsure if she can trust them. An unlikely hero is tasked with being the bridge between the two, and a new avenue is revealed.

“We need to talk.”

Preston sighed, and stood up from the wall he was working on. “What is it, Sturges?”

“It’s about Wei.” He leaned against the recently built support. “I’m not sure we should keep trusting her.”

“Well what do you want us to do, kick her out?” Preston threw his hands up in the air. “She got here first, and it’s by her good graces we even get to stay here.”

“It ain’t good graces, she needs us. She didn’t even know how to build or salvage until we taught her how.” Sturges walked over to the window, and looked out. “I just don’t trust it. She didn’t even want to tell us her name at first. And every time we’ve tried to get more information out of her, she dodges our questions.”

Preston shrugged. “We’ve only been with her for a few weeks. Maybe she just takes a bit longer to open up?”

“Yeah, maybe… But maybe she’s hiding something dangerous.” Sturges scanned the neighborhood, and found his eyes resting on Wei. His eyes narrowed, as he watched her gather supplies for continuing construction on the settlement. He was about to say more to Preston, when he saw Jun walk up to her. Remarkably, Wei’s stance changed completely, and it caught Sturges by surprise. She was less guarded than before, and actually seemed to start up a conversation with him. For the first time in a while, Jun had a small smile on his face, which had the mechanic raise an eyebrow.

“Well lookie here, seems like Wei and Jun are getting along nicely.” Sturges said, a mischievous smile growing on his face.

Preston furrowed his brow, and came over to the window to look. “You don’t think that he’s… you know, what with Marcy—“

“No no no, Jun’s not the type.” Sturges reassured him. “But maybe we’ve found a way to learn a bit more about our new friend.”

\----------

Jun breathed deeply, tugging at the ends of his shirt as we slowly approached Wei for the second time that day. He was nervous, understandably so, because now instead of just having some friendly conversation, he had a mission. When Preston and Sturges approached him with the idea, he tried to convince them he couldn’t do it. But he was outnumbered, and now that he was looking into the mouth of the beast, he felt his confidence falter

“Um, Wei?”

She looked over at Jun, and set down the bottle of Nuka Cola she had been sipping. “What is it, Jun?”

He gulped. “Well um, I-I was wondering… why do you only really talk to me?”

Wei paused, and stood up to give him her full attention. “We may be strangers, but we’re both Chinese. And that’s familiar, at least.”

“Well yes, but… But Chinese doesn’t really mean all that much anymore, except to some of the pre-war ghouls. You, you really should talk to Preston more. He’s a good guy, and he’s with the Minutemen.” Jun said, attempting a casual smile.

Wei crossed her arms. “So you’ve said.”

Seeing that she was starting to become less receptive to him, Jun panicked a bit. “I-I mean, he helps people. People all over, no matter where they’re from o-or who they are. If you ever needed help with something, then Pretson would help you. And well, we’re all going to, to be living together, so m-maybe…”

Wei narrowed her eye. “Maybe what?”

Jun tugged on his shirt once more, taking a deep breath. “Maybe… We can learn to trust each other?”

Wei was silent, and uncomfortably so. He wasn’t sure if he said the wrong thing, or if maybe Sturges was right about her being dangerous and secretive. But after a moment of quiet, Wei leaned down to pick up her Nuka Cola once more. 

“Tonight, around the campfire. I’ll answer a few questions.” She pointed a finger at him. “But only a few.”

Jun’s face lit up. “Really?”

Wei nodded. “But don’t expect me to be warm and welcoming.”

“O-of course! It’s enough that you’re willing to tell us about yourself, even if it’s only a little. I-I’ll tell the others!” He nodded his head at her, and then promptly ran off; he did it, he actually did it! This news might even make Marcy a little happy.

\----------

Once everyone was around the small campfire, an eerie silence fell over the group; even Dogmeat was unusually quiet, his panting completely muffled by the crackling fire. No one seemed brave enough to take the first step, to ask the first question, and it was starting to irritate Wei. _Why am I even bothering with this? They clearly don’t trust me either, she thought. Nothing I say will make them trust me, so why let them know anything about me? This was a mistake, I should—_

“What brought you to Sanctuary?”

Wei turned her head towards Preston, who seemed unafraid to look her straight in the eye. Guess he does have guts after all…

She shuffled around in her seat. “I used to live here, a very long time ago. Got back about a week before I met all of you.” 

Preston grinned, pleased that he finally got a straight answer.

“Where were you before Sanctuary?” Sturges piped up.

Wei frowned. “Are we really just going to ask about where I’ve lived?” 

“No,” Sturges grinned, “But for now: Where were you before?”

Wei grumbled, and pointed northward. “In Vault 111.”

That brought a wave of surprised looks across the entire group.

“A vault… What was it like in there?” Jun asked.

Wei hesitated, causing Dogmeat to tilt his head and whine in concern. This was starting to get a bit more personal. “I wouldn’t know. I was on ice the whole time.”

“Wait,” Preston furrowed his brow, “You mean… You were frozen?”

Wei nodded, not looking directly at Preston. “It was… a cryo facility.”

Another wave of awe crashed through the group. “How long were you in there?” Sturges asked eagerly.

Wei paused, glancing over at Codsworth, who was keeping himself busy with watering their new crops. “210 years.”

He nearly fell out of his seat. “210… Well no wonder you didn’t know about Deathclaws or the Minutemen… You’re pre-war, yourself!”

Wei nodded solemnly, a sinking feeling developing in her stomach. She felt… out of place. More so than she ever felt before the bombs fell, surrounded by Americans who didn’t look a thing like her, who considered her a ticking time bomb. Now not only was she more alone than ever before, but it was clear that she didn’t know anything about the world anymore. Even worse was that this situation was what she was afraid of; showing her own vulnerability to people she shouldn’t trust, couldn’t trust. She silently begged the universe for a change in subject, but it seemed the world wouldn’t be so kind.

“Did you have anyone with you?” Mama Murphy spoke up.

Wei looked right at her, face covered and unchanging but her fists beginning to clench tight. She glanced at Jun quickly, who looked surprised but also… concerned? It was easy to tell that he hadn’t expected things to go quite like this, and he could clearly sense that things were getting uncomfortable for her.

“You don’t have to answer… if you don’t want to.” Jun said softly, earning him a glare from his wife.

Wei blinked, and looked down at her undamaged left hand, wedding ring still on her finger. She brought it close to her chest, and sighed deeply, her voice low and quiet.

“My husband, Zhuo… And my son, Li…”

A brief moment of silence passed, before Preston spoke up, his voice soft and quiet to match her own. “Where are they?”

At this point, Codsworth had come over, and placed one of his appendages on Wei’s shoulder in comfort. If robots had facial expressions, she would guess that he’d look worried. A soft whine caused her to look down, and she saw that Dogmeat had placed his head on her lap, looking up at her with his ears folded back. She paused, and pet him on the head, earning her a loving lick on the palm. It was odd, out of everything that could have comforted her in the apocalypse, she hadn’t expected it to be a robot nanny and a dog she found at a gas station. She would have laughed, had she the capacity to see the humor of it all through the sadness. But instead, she focused on ignoring every instinct she had to run away and never reveal herself to anyone ever again, and continued on.

“Two people came into the Vault. They unfroze us, and I watched them open his pod and try to take my baby away from him. When he refused, they…” Wei stopped a moment, feeling her throat tighten, but continued with a forced steadiness to her voice. “They killed him.”

Everyone went quiet, all of their eyes focused on her. Wei didn’t dare look up; she couldn’t stand to see the looks of pity on their faces. Pity was the last thing she wanted right now, and she didn’t need a bunch of strangers thinking she was weak, or that she needed their sympathy.

“What about your son?” Marcy asked; her voice not filled with the usual venom.

Wei shook off her sadness and spoke quickly, desperate to end the conversation before her emotions got the best of her. “They took him, and froze me back up. I don’t know how long I was refrozen for, but something went wrong, giving me these injuries. I woke up, came out of the Vault, and found Codsworth again.” Wei stood up, dusting off her coat with her hands. “And that’s all I have to say. I’ve had enough.” She didn’t give anyone a second glance, and began walking to the recently set up bunk, Dogmeat and Codsworth following close behind.

“Are you alright, mum?” Codsworth inquired.

“I’m fine, Codsworth.” She lied. “I’m just tired.”

“I’ll get the bed ready for you, mum.” He increased speed, pulling ahead considerably Wei sighed, and let him enter before her, pausing just a moment to listen to Dogmeat bark happily, and the quick footsteps following behind her. 

“Wei, hold on,” Preston said, stopping just two feet away, “I want to thank you for telling us your story. It couldn’t have been easy, telling all of that to people you just met.”

“I’m full of surprises.” Wei grumbled, and she started to try and enter the building.

“Hold on,” He put a hand on her shoulder, causing Wei to turn around and glare at him. He must have felt the anger behind her one-eyed stare, because he backed up a little more before he continued on. “Your son is still out there, right?”

Wei narrowed her eye. “Yeah, what about it?”

Preston gave her a small, warm smile. “I think I might know someone who could help you find him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, I have a reference page for Wei [here](http://asheface-illustration.tumblr.com/post/161750827206/asheface-some-references-for-how-wei-is-gonna)
> 
> Next chapter is, you guessed it, Diamond City! Featuring the lovely Piper Wright, and the indescribable Nick Valentine c; Now we're getting the ball rolling~


	4. A Whole New World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Supermutants, ghouls, and synths, oh my! Wei sees a lot more of the post-apocalypse Commonwealth, and picks up another ally along the way. With all these new people, it's only gonna get harder for her to be so guarded.

“Preston, I have a few… questions.” Wei grumbled.

Preston turned his head, and smiled. “Well, I’ll be happy to answer them.”

“Don’t get too excited.” She scoffed.

With a laugh, Preston hopped up onto the bed of an old, rusty truck, holding out his arm to help Wei up as well. She begrudgingly took it, and the two of them continued on their path to Diamond City.

“So this place you’re taking me to... It’s not in the old baseball field, is it?”

“It sure is,” Preston nodded, “It’s been repurposed as a fairly good-sized settlement, very big, and very well protected. Some would say a bit too protected.” 

Wei turned to him. “Would you be one of those who do?”

Preston sighed. “Yeah… Diamond City is very particular about the people they let in. A few years ago, when Mayor McDonough was elected, all of the ghouls were driven out of the city. People who lived there for years suddenly found themselves ripped from their homes by their own neighbors. I wasn’t there, but I heard it was awful.”

Wei looked outward, catching a glance of an old poster. It featured a large black widow spider, a skull with a star placed over its thorax with the caption “Be Vigilant: Communism is Coming!” Childhood memories came flooding back the more she looked at it; the death glares from passersby, the whispers of how her parents must be brainwashing her, and the blood on her fist from breaking that snotty kid’s nose for calling her that awful word in the second grade… In her heart, she knew that prejudice wouldn’t die along with the old world, that there would always be awful people in the world, even though their targets may change. Still, she felt a pit in her stomach grow, and her voice became softer.

“Well, I’m still not sure exactly what ghouls are, but I can tell we have a bit in common already.” 

Preston gave her a sad look, which went ignored. “Ghouls are those who have been changed by the radiation. Their skin has become rough and redder in color, and they have completely darkened eyes. Some ghouls have hair, some don’t; some ghouls have noses, some don’t; some ghouls still act like humans, and some—“

“Don’t?” Wei inquired with a brow raised.

Preston lowered his head. “Ferals. You can tell the difference pretty easily. They’re shorter, their faces are more flat, and their walk… You’ll know when you see them.”

Wei blinked. “Well I certainly hope so. There’s enough weird shit out there.”

Preston chuckled. “You haven’t even seen the Supermutants yet.” 

Wei stopped in her tracks. "The _what?”_

\----------

“Ah, those Supermutants…” Wei grumbled, her back against a brick wall as she reloaded her pistol. After the wall was pelted a few times by stray bullets, she reached around and fired into a large, green man preparing to throw a grenade. The goliath of a beast fell back, and with a loud thud he sent the dust on the ground flying.

Preston fired his own musket at a charging Supermutant, sending its corpse backwards into a pile of garbage. “Having fun yet, Wei?”

“Oh yeah, _so_ much fun!” She shouted sarcastically as she shot around the corner again. “I just _love_ waking up after 210 years to find out everything got fuck-off big!”

Preston laughed and fired his gun once more, finishing off the last of the Supermutant attack with a low moan of pain escaping the lungs of the final enemy. Once he was sure that the attacker was dead, he walked over to Wei and helped her up. “Well, we’re alive at least, and the entrance to Diamond City is just around the corner.”

“Lovely.” Wei sighed. “Let’s just hope they let us in.”

The pair proceeded onwards, finally reaching their destination, but were surprised to find a woman in a red leather coat yelling into a speaker in front of a closed door. This should be interesting, Wei mused to herself.

“What do you mean you can’t open the gate?! Stop playing around, Danny!” The woman pointed an accusing finger at the speaker. After looking around for a few seconds, seeming not to notice Wei and Preston, she spoke a bit more quietly. “I’m standing out here in the open, for crying out loud…”

“I got orders not to let you in, Ms. Piper. I’m sorry, I’m just doing my job.” Danny sighed into the mic.

“Ooo, just doing your job!” Piper shouted, apparently immediately forgetting that she was supposed to be quiet while she’s exposed. “Protecting Diamond City means keeping me out, is that it? Oh look, it’s the scary reporter! Boo!”

Wei looked over to Preston with a look on her face that – even with all of the bandages – seemed to say _is she serious?_

“I’m sorry Piper, but Mayor McDonough’s really steamed; saying that article you wrote was all lies. The whole city is in a tizzy.” Danny replied. 

Piper stomped her foot on the ground and screamed into the speaker. “You open this gate right now, Danny Sullivan! I LIVE here, you can’t just keep me out!”

Wei whispered to Preston. “I say we just walk up.”

Preston nodded. “I agree. Maybe if we make our presence known we’ll get in?”

“One way to find out.” Wei said as she made her way over to the speaker and the woman.

Piper looked up in surprise at the sudden approach, and got a grin on her face that made Wei uneasy. “Well lookie here! There are other people that want in now, Danny. You gonna let them in or what?”

“I’m not falling for that one again, Piper.” Danny grumbled.

Wei leaned towards the speaker slightly. “So we’re just supposed to sit outside and wait then?”

“Oh shit!” Frantic scrambling could be heard over the mic, along with the sound of breaking bottles and a bumped head. A loud beep sounded, and a very out of breath Danny spoke up. “Y-You can enter. Piper, I know I can’t stop you from coming in with them, but maybe don’t make the Mayor so mad next time?”

“No promises!” Piper said with a big smile. As the gate began to open, she looked to Wei and Preston, nodding her head in the direction of the city. “I’ll follow you guys in, if that’s alright.”

“Not like I can say no.” Wei stated plainly, and she started to walk in. 

Piper looked over at Preston, who gave her a shrug and a half-smile. The two of them followed after her, and when they all gathered just inside the door, a booming voice echoed down the hall.

“Piper! Who let you back inside?” A large man in a pinstriped suit shouted. “I told Sullivan to keep that gate shut! You devious, rabblerousing—“

Ahem, Wei coughed.

The man turned his head, and his eyes just about came out of his head. “Oh, I see you enlisted the help of innocent civilians, Piper. Why do I even bother trying to keep you out…” he shook his head, and lifted his gaze back to Wei and Preston with a slimy politician’s smile. “Do excuse Ms. Wright, she’s a bit of a troublemaker.”

“Troublemaker? I’m the only one keeping Diamond City informed of what’s going on out there in the world!” Piper frowned, crossing her arms. “What do you think, stranger? You a fan of freedom of the press?”

Wei paused a moment before answering with an irritated tone. “Sure. Whatever.”

“Ha!” Piper exclaimed as if she had won the argument. Wei rolled her eye.

The man blubbered a little, before adjusting his vest and turning to Wei once more. “My apologies, my name is Mayor McDonough, and I welcome you both to our fine city! But uh, first…” He looked Wei up and down, inducing a flash of anger in the her gut. “We’ll need you to take your bandages off.”

Wei narrowed her eye and stiffened. “Excuse me?”

“Well we have to make sure you aren’t a ghoul or a synth in disguise. Humans only in Diamond City, afterall.” The mayor said proudly.

Preston shifted uncomfortably. “She can’t take off her bandages, sir.”

The mayor frowned. “And just why not?”

Piper made a “yikes” face off to the side, and Preston rubbed the back of his neck nervously. 

Wei took a few steps closer to the mayor, all five-foot-five-inches of her radiating anger. “Because if I do, my skin will come off again, and it’ll take even longer to heal.”

The mayor’s face fell, realizing what he had done, and began to backpedal. “Well, I-I’m just trying to keep Diamond City safe, ma’am. I-If there’s any other way you could, uh, prove that you are indeed human we can forget all this mess…”

Wei grabbed her left sleeve and forced it up to her elbow, getting her fist so close to the mayor that she almost punched him. He yelped, and after he was sure he wasn’t hit, he looked down at her arm to see that it was as smooth as silk.

McDonough smiled nervously. “Ah, there we go; smooth human skin.” He made a move to touch her arm, and Wei yanked it back. The mayor gulped and attempted another smile. “You and your friend may enter.”

“Good,” Wei pushed past him, shoulder checking him with enough force to spin him around despite being a good 5 inches shorter than him. “Maybe we’ll find someone in Diamond city who _isn’t_ a bumbling idiot.” 

Not wanting to be around when the mayor was done sputtering, Preston and Piper both picked up the pace to catch up with Wei. Preston slowed to stay by her side, while Piper jogged ahead, turning back for a moment while she ran.

“Stop by Publick Occurences when you have the chance, stranger! I’d love to interview you for the next issue.” She winked, and disappeared over the bump of the hill.

Preston sighed. “Well she sure is… energetic. You alright, Wei?”

“Fine.” She scowled. “Just pissed off.”

“I hear you. But we won’t have to stay here long. The detective’s place is close to the entrance.” Preston reassured her.

“A news reporter, a prejudiced fuck, and a detective,” Wei sighed. “If everything wasn’t so filthy, I’d think I was still in 2077.” 

\----------

After all the trouble Preston and Wei had gone through to find the man, they had entered the Valentine Detective Agency only to find his secretary sitting at a desk, sniffling while wiping tears from her cheeks. When asked where the detective was, they were told he went missing while trying to find a missing woman named Darla. Despite Wei’s frustration, Preston insisted that they would help find the missing detective, and learned where he would most likely be. Of course, on their way through the station and into the vault, they encountered ghouls much like the ones Preston mentioned before, both feral and humanlike.

“Well, I think I can spot a feral ghoul easily now.” Wei panted heavily and she moved slowly through the vault.

“Just like I said,” Preston fanned himself with his hat, “I didn’t expect to see both kinds of ghouls in one place. Though I guess it makes sense; ferals don’t attack regular ghouls, they just kinda ignore them.”

“Convenient.” Wei mumbled. “Whoever this ‘Skinny Malone’ guy is these goons keep talking about, I’m gonna kill him.” 

“Normally I’d be a bit concerned with a statement like that, but considering that this man is a criminal—“

“Shh, I hear talking.” Wei hushed. The two of them leaned against the wall while crouched low, trying their best to listen in. The first voice was pitchy but masculine, and very obviously not the voice of a ghoul. The second voice sounded older, like a man who’s been smoking for a few years, yet the words that flowed out of his mouth sounded smooth like butter.

“Don't give me that crap, Valentine. You know nothin'. You got nothin'.” 

"Really? I saw him writing your name down in that black book of his. ‘Lousy cheating card shark’ I think were his exact words. Then he struck the name across three times."

“Three strikes? In the black book? But I never... Oh no, I gotta smooth this over, fast!” Wei heard someone in slick leather shoes run frantically, and exit through another door on the other side of the room. After a moment, Wei nodded to Preston, and the two of them quickly made their way up the stairs to where the two voices were talking. In front of them was a very large window, and when she peered through it, she saw something unlike anything she has seen so far. It was a man, or at least, it was shaped like one. His skin was white, parts of it torn off to reveal machinery, and he wore an old trench coat and a fedora like the detectives in those movies. The man’s eyes shined a bright yellow, and they looked directly at her. Had she been a normal woman, Wei would have been afraid, but she stood her ground and waited for him to speak.

"Hey, you. I don't know who you are, but we got three minutes before ol' muscles-for-brains comes back. Get this door open."

Wei hesitated for a moment, and turned to look at Preston. 

“That’s him.” He confirmed. “I think that panel opens the door.”

Wei looked at a panel just behind her. “Yeah, I think you’re right.” She lifted the hatch and pressed the button, the door sliding into the wall with a soft hiss. The two of them walked into the room, and the detective lit a cigarette he had apparently been keeping in his pocket.

"Gotta love the irony of the reverse damsel-in-distress scenario. Question is, why did our heroine risk life and limb for an old private eye?” He looked at Wei curiously. 

“I have a job I need done. Your secretary said we might find you here.” She replied, not taking her eye off of him. 

“Ah, Ellie. I should give her a raise.” He chuckled. “We can skip the introductions between you and I for now, we need to get out of here, and fast.”

“Couldn’t agree more.” Wei said as she let him pass in front of her.

The two of them followed after Nick, taking down various leftover triggermen and covering him while he hacked his way through a few doors. The whole time they walked, Wei couldn’t stop staring at him. _What the hell is this guy? she wondered, first ghouls, then Supermutants, now this? What the hell did the world get up to in two centuries?_

“Now we might run into Skinny Malone before we can get out of this mess,” Nick piped up. “The name is, uh, ironic. But don’t let that fool you, he’s dangerous.”

Wei looked over at Preston, who offered only a shrug. She was about to say more, when a voice echoed just down the hall.

“Nicky? What’re ya doin’? You come into my house, shoot up my guys… You have any idea how much this is gonna set me back!?”

Once the group reached the end of the hallway, Wei could see how the name was ironic. This man was just about as big as the mayor of Diamond City. Hell, maybe even bigger. At either of his sides were two men, both of them pointing their submachines guns towards them, and a rather scrawny looking girl in a sequin dress holding a baseball bat.

“I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for your two-timing dame, Skinny,” Nick frowned, “you ought to tell her to write home more often.” 

“Awww, poor little Valentine. Ashamed you got beat up by a girl!?” The woman mused. “I’ll just run back home to daddy, shall I?”

“Shoulda left it alone, Nicky. This ain’t the old neighborhood. In this vault, I’m king of the castle! You hear me?!” Skinny Malone raged, his face turning redder by the minute. “And I ain’t letting some private dick shut us down now that I finally got a good thing goin’!”

“I told you we should have just killed him! But you had to get all sentimental.” The woman huffed.

“Darla, I’m handling it!” Skinny pleaded. “Skinny Malone’s always got things under control!”

“If I could interrupt.” Wei spoke up. All eyes were on her now, and she took a step forward. “I’m not leaving here without the detective. Now either you all let me pass, or…” She cocked her pistol. “I put a bullet in every single one of your eyesockets.”

Skinny Malone laughed. “Oh please, my guys would have you down in two seconds flat.”

“Oh yeah?” Wei cocked an eyebrow. “Who do you think took down all of your other guys, hm? Not like Valentine has a weapon on him. And my friend here has a very nicely modded laser musket that can turn your bodies into dust, if need be.” 

Preston shifted uncomfortably at the thought of being used as a threat, but held up his weapon nonetheless. The two triggermen looked at each other, their stances starting to waver, and Valentine took notice.

“Look Skinny, I may not be much of a threat, but she seems pretty serious. Why don’t you just let us pass, and no more harm will come to you and your guys?” Nick pleaded.

Skinny Malone looked at Nick, then at Wei, then at Preston. It was starting to dawn on him that the intruding party wasn’t as outmatched as he previously thought, and the wheels in his head started to turn.

“Alright Nicky… You can go, for old times sake. I’ll give you to the count of ten to get the hell outta here.” Skinny conceded.

“What!? You’ve got to be kidding me!” Darla squealed.

“That’s enough!” Skinny boomed. “I’m putting my foot down, Darla. I’m lettin’ them go.”

Darla let out a loud harumph. “You gangsters are all the same! My mother was right, I’m going home!” She turned on her heel, and stomped out towards the surface.

Skinny grumbled, wiping his brow of his sweat, and gave Nick one last glare. “Ten…”

Nick looked to Wei. “Time to go.” The three of them followed after Darla quickly, with the sound of Skinny Malone counting down slowly growing quieter and quieter as they exited the vault and the station. The woman didn’t bother waiting for the rest of them to catch up, and was already well on her way back home, cursing to herself in the distance.

“Well,” Nick sighed, “that was a bit more trouble than it was worth. Still, glad we could end this peacefully.”

“That makes two of us.” Preston nodded.

Nick gave him a warm smile. “I think I recognize you. Minutemen, right?”

Preston nodded again. “Yes sir, Preston Garvey of the Minutemen.”

“Well it’s good to see a someone still trying to do some good out here in the Commonwealth.” Nick turned his gaze to Wei. “Now you, I don’t recognize. What’s your name, stranger? And what’s this job you need done?”

Wei looked at the strange robotic man, her back straightening and her fist unclenching on her gun. She wasn’t quite sure if she could trust this man, or if he was a man at all, but at this point she didn’t have anywhere else to turn. If Diamond City was any indication, she knew that if she were going to receive any help in finding her baby, she would have to trust in people and things completely unfamiliar to her. It didn’t make the concept of trusting others any more appealing, but her personal hang-ups would have to wait, for Li’s sake. With a newfound resolve in her heart and a new ally in front of her, she took in a deep breath.

“My name is Wei, and I need to find my son.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a bit of trouble with the pacing in this one, I hope it's not too painful. Here's where the linear nature is gonna start to fall apart. I'm changing the canon a little bit, and having it be a lot harder to find Kellog (why the hell did he even get a house in the MOST SUSPICIOUS town in the Commonwealth? did he just get lazy or stupid?)


	5. Tough Nut To Crack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You'd think that someone so in need of help would be a little more open. Nick learns the hard way that not everyone is so easy to talk to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so I have some explaining to do. A while ago, after I started this project, microsoft decided I shouldn't get to use my software that I bought anymore. I tried to recover the codes needed to reactivate my stuff, but it was linked to a now deactivated student microsoft account, so I was unable for a long time to edit my stuff. It took a while, but I was finally able to get open office to work, and I had access to my WIPs again! But then I had a bit of a depression spell, a few pressing commissions, and well... that's how we ended up here. A chapter, several months too late. I hope that people are still interested, but if not, I totally understand. I do plan on adding more chapters, I promise! Just gotta get back into the swing of things. More to come in the future!~

Nick likes to think of himself as a patient man, when the situation calls for it. It's not easy for people to share their problems with a stranger, much less a synth. But after a bit of reassurance, maybe a few witty quips, his clients tend to open up and allow him to help. But this woman, Wei, was quite possibly the most difficult, and most suspicious client he's ever had sit in his office. She may have rescued him from Skinny Malone’s crew, but she wasn’t exactly a ray of sunshine. He should have known, from how long it took for her to even say her name, that she was the secretive type; however he had expected her to elaborate a little more on her case on the way back to Diamond City. Instead, she had gruffly told him that they were too exposed, that she would wait until they were someplace safer. Turns out she actually meant someplace where absolutely no one else was allowed to be. She even wanted Ellie gone from his office before she said anything. This gal was going to be a hard nut to crack, for sure.

“So, your name is Wei and you’ve lost your son. A good start, but I’m gonna need more information than that.” Nick sits down across from his two rescuers, and lights another cigarette as he watched the woman carefully.

“What do you need to know?” She asks.

“Well for starters, where were you when it happened?” He looks at her carefully, and there is an uncomfortably long pause. Nick leans back in his chair with a sigh, and opens his mouth to say more, but the Minuteman beside her speaks up.

“Wei, I know you like your privacy, but Nick is your best chance at finding your son.” He says softly.

She looks up at him, and crosses her arms. “I didn’t exactly get the best welcoming party. How do I know he’s not gonna pull the same shit as the Mayor?”

Nick chuckles. He supposes that the Mayor was reluctant to let her in because of the bandages. Despite being a politician, McDonough never had a lot of tact. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m not exactly human.”

Wei narrowes her eye. “So what are you, then?”

_Oh boy, here we go,_ Nick sighs. “I’m a Synth. Meaning a synthetic human,” He steeples his fingers together, “I was made in a lab by an organization called the Institute. Not much is known about them, in fact I don’t really remember much besides waking up in a dumpster. Only memories of the past I have are from the original Nick Valentine.”

Wei raises her brow. “The original?”

Nick nods. “Synths are made with the memories and personality of humans. Mine came from a pre-war cop. Others, well…” He frowns, “Others come from humans who used to be alive very recently. The Institute appears to have taken to kidnapping humans, killing them, and replacing them with Synths. At least, that's the rumor.”

Wei leans forward, looking him directly in the eyes. “Why are you telling me this?”

Nick maintains eye contact, not about to back down. “Because I want to show you that I have nothing to hide. I’m just a Synth trying to help people out, because it’s all I know.”

The woman continues to look into his eyes. Nick can tell that she is carefully considering everything he has told her. It's a lot to take in, especially for someone who doesn’t know a thing about the Institute. He sees her shoulders relax slightly, and Nick takes this opportunity to drive home the point.

“I know you’re nervous. I know it’s asking a lot for you to trust someone you’ve never met.” Nick gives her a warm smile. “But if you need someone to give their all to help you, then I’ll certainly to everything I can to bring your boy home.”

Wei shuffles a bit, tapping her fingers on her arm while she thinks. If Nick needed to breathe at all, he would have held his breath. After it seems like ages have passed, the bandaged woman nods, and folds her hands on her lap.

“Alright… I’ll tell you everything.”

Nick smiles, and reaches into the desk for a notepad while pulling a pen from his coat pocket. He looks to the strange, secretive dame in front of him, gives a slight nod to her companion, and flips open to a blank page.

“Then let’s get started.”

\--------------------------------------

After an hour of questions, long pauses, and gentle encouragement, Nick finally has enough information to get the investigation going. Even after initially convincing her to open up, it still took a lot of effort to actually get the facts out. Hearing her story, everything that she had experienced in the centuries that she has been alive, he wonders how she's even holding it all together. For a moment, Nick thought he heard her voice crack when she described how her husband died, but he couldn't be sure. Nick tries not to get too attached to a case, but this one really makes his old, ticking heart ache.

“Alright, I think I have enough to get a good start on this missing child case.” Nick nods. “From your description, I think have an idea of who the kidnapper might be.”

“Who?” Wei asks, perhaps a bit to forcefully, but Nick ignores that for now.

“A merc named Kellogg. He's a slippery bastard, very hard to find. And no one knows who he works for. But the description matches, as well as the character profile...”

Wei sighs, clearly not pleased. “Great, so an impossible to find man who's a ruthless killer.”

“Mm, not impossible. Just extremely difficult.” Nick puts his pad of paper in his coat pocket. “There's plenty of people I can talk to. Got some contacts all over the commonwealth. First place to check might be Goodneighbor, got a few people we can talk to there.”

Preston grimaces. “Goodneighbor? Really?”

Nick shrugs. “Anywhere else where a merc can lie low and maybe get a few caps?”

“Probably not.” Preston concedes. “But do you trust your contacts there?”

Nick smiles. “Oh don't worry, not everyone in Goodneighbor is a fiend. Some just want a place where they can be left alone, or where they won't be turned away.”

“Sounds like a good place to start.” Wei grunts and stands up, waving off Preston when he tries to help her up.

“Actually, our first stop should probably be with Piper.”

Wei stops, and looks right at Nick. “That chatty reporter girl?”

He laughs. “I see you've met.”

“Unfortunately...” Wei grumbles.

“Well, she may not be your type of friend, but she's a good one to have. She's always got her ear to the ground, picking up any piece of news that comes her way. And it might be good to have her spread the word that we're looking for your son.”

“Now hold on,” Wei starts, “I don't want the entire Commonwealth knowing my story. That's my business. They get the absolute minimum, nothing more.”

Nick shrugs. “Well, hearing what you've been through might encourage people to help you more. People like to empathize with someone before they stick their neck out.”

“You don't have to tell them everything. We can probably leave out the stuff about the vault, but maybe tell them about your husband?” Preston suggests.

Wei thinks for a moment, before letting out a sigh. “Fine. Let's get going.”

A wave of relief hits both Nick and Preston, as the three of them head out of the office. Thankfully, it doesn't take them long at all to reach Piper's home. Pretty hard to miss with a kid standing outside, hocking papers.

“Hey Nick! Got another one?” The child shouts with a wry smile.

“Hey Nat. Still getting in trouble at school?” Nick responds in kind.

Nat shrugs. ”Maybe kids should stop bugging me if they don't want a bloody nose.”

Nick swears he can hear Wei chuckle slightly, but he lets it slide. “We're coming to see your sister. She in?”

She nods. “Yeah, kinda seems like she's waiting for you. Like she can smell the news comin' off ya.”

He laughs. “I hope thats's all it is, spent a long while in a vault. See ya, kid.” With a final nod, Nat goes back to shouting headlines at the top of her lungs. Nick knocks lightly on the door before entering, and urges his companions to follow.

The inside of the small home is incredibly messy. Paper and pens are strewn everywhere, leftover plastic from snacks are left balled up next to a half-empty trashcan, and the smell of burnt coffee flows through the air. Extremely typical, given the nature of its only inhabitants. Across the room, pacing in front of a chair, is Piper Wright. When she realizes that she has guests, her face lights up and a smile spreads across her face.

“Well if it isn't Detective Nick Valentine! Where've you been? Things have been kinda stale without you around.”

Nick smiles back with a small wave of his hand. “Ah, I'll tell you later. For now, we've got a more important story for you to publish.”

Piper gasps. “Aw Nick, you shouldn't have! You know I love a story with some weight behind it. Now, who-- oh!”

Nick hears a groan behind him. “This here is Wei, I believe you've met already.”

“You bet! She helped me get back in to Diamond City. You know the mayor locked me out? Unbelieveable!”

“Well, I'm sure he had his own, stupid reasons.” Nick shakes his head with a grin. “But let's put that aside, my client here has some information that needs getting out."

Piper whips out a pen and notepad from seemingly nowhere, and gestures to an old couch. “Excellent! Let's get started, go on and sit down, tell. Me. Everything!”

The three of them take a seat, a bit too close for comfort because of the couch's small size. Wei, nestled between her two companions, lets out another low groan before looking at Piper.

“I will tell you everything you need to know. But no questions. I won't answer them.”

“Uhhh, yeah! Sure, no problem. I won't ask questions.” Piper nods enthusiastically.

Wei raises her eyebrow, extremely skeptical. Nick is almost afraid she's gonna pull another one of her long silences, but to his surprise, she starts speaking almost immediately.

“My name is Wei. I am looking for my son. His name is Li, he's Chinese, and he's one year old. The man who took him was maybe in his 40's; bald, dark beard, with a scar across his left eye.”

Piper says nothing for a while, furiously scribbling down every word. Once her scribbling is done, she looks over her notes again, and her face scrunches in sadness. “Your son is missing? Oh man... that's awful.”

Wei crosses her arms. “Yes, as I've just told you.”

Piper smiles sheepishly. “Sorry, get in kind of a trance when taking notes. I promise I'm taking this seriously, I want to help you find him.”

Nick nudges Wei with his elbow. “Don't worry, if Piper's helping us, the whole Commonwealth will be on the lookout for your boy.”

Wei blinks, and settles back in with a small huff, which Nick takes as a victory.

“We think the perp might be a guy named Kellogg,” Nick continues, “but we don't want him to know we're onto him. Best to just have the descriptions out there.”

Piper nods, scribbling down additional notes. “Anything to add? Maybe another emotional punch to really get people to look for this guy?” Her eyes widen. “I mean! That's not to say that your kid missing isn't emotional enough, it's just... Well, the sadder the story, the more people get riled up and want to pitch in, you know?”

Nick looks at Wei, and she looks back. She's only got a little farther to go, and he's nervous she won't bite. After another – by now signature – long pause, Wei sighs and speaks softly.

“The man murdered my husband. I was... trapped and couldn't fight him off. He took my baby and left. I don't know how long it's been. But the last time I saw Li, he was only a baby.”

Piper nods, and to Nick's surprise, she simply writes and keeps any potential comments to herself. “Okay, I just need to edit the language, make it real gut-punching, and I'll have it circulating in no time.”

Nick smiles. “Thanks, Piper. I owe ya one.”

“Nick, you owe me several. But this one's on the house.” She winks.

He lets out a chuckle. “Well thank you, again.” He stands up with a groan, and his companions follow suit. “We're gonna head out soon to get some more info. Let me know if you find anything.”

Piper salutes, notably with the wrong hand. “Yes sir! And uh,” she looks at Wei. “I'd be happy to help in the field anytime, if you think you can handle it.”

Wei scoffs. “The field I can handle. Jury's still out on you.”

“Fair enough.” Piper laughs. “But the offer still stands. You three be safe out there, alright?”

“Will do. See you later Piper.” Nick gives a wave, and the three of them walk out. The group turns to head outside Diamond City, and once the gate closes behind them, Preston turns to Wei.

“I gotta get back to Sanctuary, make sure everyone's doing okay.”

“You gonna be able to get back on your own?” Wei asks.

With a smile, Preston nods. “Don't worry, I'll be fine.”

“I'm not worried. Just don't know if you still need a babysitter.” She quips.

He chuckles. “I think I can handle it. You do what you need to do. I'll be ready if you have need of me again.”

Wei nods, and gives Preston a hard slap on the back. “See you around, kid.”

Preston laughs, rubbing his back with a slight wince as he walks away. Now that they're alone, Nick turns to give Wei one last look over before setting off. For the briefest of moments, she looks exactly how he would expect her to look: tired, afraid, and unsure of what comes next. In that moment, Nick is certain he's seen something that people rarely get to witness from someone like her; a moment of weakness that ever so slightly breaks through the tough outer layer that she has worked so hard to achieve. But as she feels his gaze upon her, she straightens up and takes a deep breath, pushing the weakness back down where it came from.

“Well, where to?” She asks.

Nick gives her one more smile, before looking off into the distance. He pulls out his pistol, and readies it at his side as Wei does the same with hers.

“We're off to Goodneighbor.”


	6. Messy Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wei is a great many things; she is strong, she is secretive, and she is intelligent. But by far, the most important thing for people to know, is that she is not the kind of person you want to threaten with violence. Some raiders and an unfortunate man named Finn learn that the hard way.

Though the path from Diamond City to Goodneighbor is fairly short, that doesn't mean it isn't filled with dangers. Supermutants, feral ghouls, raiders, the whole city is covered in obstacles. Thankfully, ghouls are easily dispatched by a few quick bullets and Supermutants are large enough to steer clear of. Raiders, however, were a little more difficult to handle. They take random buildings and fortify, like Supermutants, but have the mental capacity for advanced turrets. They're quick and often attack unexpectedly, like ferals, but they arm themselves with some of the most dangerous and most powerful weapons you can find in the Commonwealth. Taking down an entire camp of raiders with only two people is quite the challenge, but when you're Wei, well... taking down other humans is what you're built for.

When Nick and Wei stumble upon a group of raiders with snipers roosting on a fire escape, the two of the duck for cover and give pause as the bullets fire over their heads. It's late, they're tired, and they don't have a whole lot of patience left for obstacles.

“They certainly don't quit, do they?” Nick sighs as he reloads his pistol. “What's the plan?”

Wei grumbles, and peeks around the mailbox she's leaning on. “We need to draw out the snipers from their roosts, I don't have a decent rifle quite yet and the guy at the top has one that'll do nicely.”

Nick nods, leaning out of cover to clip a raider's shoulder. “So we wait until they get frustrated? Or charge in and take out the ones on the ground?”

Wei thinks a moment, and looks at the enemies to see one of them coming right for them with a baseball bat covered in nails. She waits a minute for them to get closer, then she jumps up and elbows them right in the gut. While they're stunned, Wei gets behind them and bends their arm backwards, putting a bullet right into the base of their skull. She grabs the body by the collar, and pulls it back into cover to search for bullets.

“Damn,” she curses under her breath, “I'm almost out of ammo and this bastard's got nothing.”

“I wouldn't say nothing.” Nick pipes up, nodding his head at the bat lying on the ground.

Wei considers for a moment, and quickly makes a grab for the bat. It was a high quality bat, once, with a dark wood stain and a nice polish. Now it's covered in blood, with several nails hammered right into the body of the bat towards the top. It may not be the prettiest thing, but it'll do in a pinch. Wei holsters her gun, saving the last few bullets for an emergency, and takes in a deep breath.

“I'm going in. Cover me.” She gives Nick a quick nod and runs straight into the fray. The three raiders still left on the ground jump, and attempt to stop her with a few quick rounds. They overestimate their shots, and by the time they realize they need to regroup it's too late. Wei comes up on one with a rubber hose mask, shouting as she swings the bat with all her might into his chest. A loud crack echoes through the night air along with a gasp of pain from her victim, and she swings once more for a final blow to the head, sending bits of skull and brain scattering across the ground. She rounds on the next one as they desperately swipe at her with a switchblade to no effect, and their face is completely smashed inwards. The last grunt manages to get a shot off, but misses Wei as he stumbles from a bullet in his leg thanks to the detective. Another guttural shout erupts from Wei's mouth as she cracks his skull open, his throat choking on blood before falling to his knees. Seeing the absolute carnage below, the snipers in the fire escape think better of it, and scamper off inside the building to hide, earning them an angry yell from Wei in return.

After a few seconds, Nick cautiously comes out from behind his cover, walking slowly towards Wei as if she were a wild animal. His eyes flick between her face, the bat, and the stairs above, unsure of where danger may come from next. Once he's certain that the snipers aren't coming back, and he can hear Wei's breathing beginning to slow, he speaks up.

“Well, that was... violent.”

Wei looks around at the bodies on the ground, and gives a noncommittal shrug. “It's sloppy. I'll admit, I'm a bit out of practice with melee.”

“That's 'out of practice?' I shudder to think what you can do when you've been at it for longer.” Nick quips, a slight tone of nervousness in his voice.

“Well,” She sighs as she examines the bat. “I didn't get my rifle, but this'll do for now. Let's get going.”

“Right...” Nick nods, keeping a cautious eye on Wei as they begin to disembark once more. 

As they continue going northeast, with no further violent intrusions, they come across a wall. Definitely post war, but pretty sturdy considering how slapped together it seems at first glance. Wei guesses that over time they've made improvement to it, adding various bits and pieces of scrap to bolster the weak spots, as well as repair any damage done by outsiders. Seems exactly the sort of thing that would protect a small village, sort of like Diamond City, except they didn't have the benefit of there already being brick in place. Fairly impressive, all things considered, but Wei is too tired to say much about it. She knew they were really on the right track when they came up to a neon sign that said “GOODNEIGHBOR” in glowing pink and blue. Wei squints at it, and follows a nearby arrow to a solid metal door, guarded by two men (ghouls?) with machine guns.. 

She turns to Nick for confirmation. “I”m guessing we enter here?”

Nick nods. “That's the one. Now, be prepared. Goodneighbor is a little rough around the edges, a lot of outcasts and criminals call this place their home. But overall, they tend to be more accepting than any other settlement you'll find. Mayor Hancock makes sure of that.”

Wei sighs, “I hope so. I'm too tired to beat more sense into people.”

“But you'll do it if you have to, eh?” Nick smirks.

Wei gives a gruff nod. “You're damn right. Let's see if they've made good use of the Rexford.”

She looks at the two men, who she can now clearly see are ghouls, and the give her a nod in return, parting to let her enter through the door. They each regard Nick by name when he passes, and once inside, Wei takes a good look around.

It's surprisingly... well taken care of. Most of the buildings are well intact, the streets have minimal garbage, and there's a good number of ghouls wearing suits. Diamond City may have better protection, but it has nothing on Goodneighbor for style, perhaps due to this being the old wealthy part of town. Even the people, who seem to mostly consist of ghouls, seem to have better manners as they don't bat an eye at Wei's strange and bandaged appearance. Still, she decides to be cautious, because any place that looks this nice and acts so nonchalant is hiding something.

The two of them walk in further, stopping to talk under a lit streetlamp, the warm light a welcome break from dark night around them. Nick lights a cigarette, which Wei still isn't even sure Nick can enjoy, and he takes a puff.

“Alright, first thing we gotta do is talk to the mayor, make ourselves known. He likes to meet everyone that walks in, it'll be a kind gesture. Then, if you want, I can do the talking for you while you rest up. I know it gets annoying to repeat the same story so many times in one day. I'll ask him to keep an eye out, maybe send out a line for information, and that should be good.” He takes a deep sigh, then gestures just down an alley. “Over there is The Third Rail, fairly nice bar. They got some good, live entertainment sometimes. And, since you mentioned it before, there is the Hotel Rexford, which still works as intended.”

Wei nods. “I am gonna need some sleep. Must be, what, 3 in the morning?” She reflexively looks at her wrist, and when she remembers she no longer has a watch, she sighs and throws her hand in the air. “I'm a little too old to be staying up this late. Hopefully the mayor is a night owl.”

Nick chuckles. “Oh like you wouldn't believe. In fact, he-- Uh oh.”

Wei furrows her brow, and turns to see the source of Nick's discontent, when she sees a man approaching them. He's a bit on the shorter side for a man, skinny, wearing a beat up leather jacket. No hair on his head, but he has a scraggly beard and bloodshot eyes, which star at them suspiciously. When he speaks up, a few bystanders turn to watch the situation unfold.

“Hey, hold up there. First time in Goodneighbor? Can't go walking around without insurance.”

Wei fully turns her body to face the man, a calm and tired anger washing over her as she idly taps her new weapon holstered in a strap at her side. “Listen kid, you gotta pick your marks better. Because I could grind your skull into pulp on the pavement and be hungry afterwards. Back off.”

If people weren't paying attention before, they certainly were now. All eyes are fixed on Wei and the man in front of her, eager to see what he'd do next. He frantically looks around him, perhaps looking for backup, but he found none. Instead, he gulps and attempts to play it cool.

“Whoa, hey, easy. We'll uh, we'll just say your insurance is paid up for now.” He says with a light tremble in his voice.

Wei doesn't budge. “I don't think you understand, kid. I'm not paying you. Ever.”

He clenches his jaw, desperately looking for a way to salvage his reputation.

“Whoa whoa time out, Finn...” 

Out from the shadows steps another ghoul, but this one looks very different than the ones in suits. He's skinny, tall, wearing a beat-up red overcoat and a tri-corner hat. His shirt, frilled and colonial, is open and exposing the rough skin on his chest. His eyes are a dark clouded gray, and he has a toothy grin plastered across his face. Overall, he's really quite a sight. Wei still isn't quite used to ghouls, but she has to give him credit for not letting it stop him from wearing completely ridiculous clothes so confidently. As he speaks, his voice sounds raspy but had a sort of butter smooth undertone to it, as if he is a man – ghoul – who spent a lot of time trying to convince people he was a gentleman. This absolutely has to be the mayor, no doubt in her mind.

“So let me get this straight: Nick Valentine makes a rare appearance into town and you're hassling his friend here with that extortion crap? Good to see you again, Nick.” He winks.

Nick gives a respectful, yet apprehensive nod. “Hancock...”

The man, Finn, huffs and turns to the mayor. “What do you care? She ain't one of us.”

The ghoul straightens up, moving his shoulders back and throwing his hands out to the side. “No love for your mayor, Finn? I said, let her go.” 

Finn glares. “You're soft, Hancock. You keep letting outsiders walk all over us, and one day there'll be a new mayor.”

Hancock's eyes grow cold, and his smile dims as he reaches to put an arm around Finn's shoulders. “Come on, man. This is me we're talking about. Let me tell you something...”

It almost happens too quick to process. The ghoul pulls out a switchblade, then one, two, three; Finn goes down with a groan, his blood pouring onto the pavement. Wei watches him clutch at his wounds, not blinking even once as this man dies in front of her, and her gaze turns to Hancock to study his face. He seems... disappointed. She doesn't know how well he knew Finn, but something about the look on his face seemed to say he knew him well enough to not be happy with this outcome.

“Now why'd you have to go and say that, huh? Breaking my heart over here...” Hancock sighs and shakes his head, wiping the blade on his coat before pocketing it and turning to face Wei proper. When his gaze meets hers, he smiles that same smile again, like nothing ever happened. “Now I know you had old Finn handled back there. But a mayor's gotta make a point sometimes. You alright?”

Wei pauses, taking a second to look and see if anyone around them had taken notice. But rather than people continuing to watch, it would seem everyone went right back to business as usual, as if this sort of thing was normal. Her eye flicks back to Hancock, and she removes her hand from her bat. “Yeah... I'm fine.”

Hancock clasps his hands together. “Good. Now don't let this little incident taint your view of our little community. Goodneighbor's of the people, for the people, you feel me? Everyone's welcome.”

At that, Wei raises her brow. She wonders if he hit his head and thinks he's the actual John Hancock for some reason. Certainly an odd historical figure to look up to, but it's not the first reference she's heard to the Revolutionary war, so she lets it go for now.

“So! Nicky, what brings you to my neck of the woods, eh?” Hancock moves forward, clapping a hand on Valentine's back.

Nick coughs a bit at the sudden hit, nearly dropping his cigarette. “Well I'm working a case, and I need you to see if you can get the word out, pull up any information you can find.”

“Oh?” Hancock looks to Wei. “I'm guessing that makes you the client then, eh?” he takes a step towards her, hand outstretched. “Mayor John Hancock, as you may have already guessed. And you are?”

She considers his hand for a moment, and cautiously takes it in a firm grip. “Wei.”

Hancock's eyes light up with curiosity. “Wei, huh? Not sure I recognize that one, but that'll have to be a story for another time, you must tired. The Rexford is just down the way, but if you don't have the caps, there's always a free bed in the mayor's headquarters.”

Wei eyes him warily. “I've got the caps...” She looks to Nick. “You got this handled?”

He nods. “I've got it. You go rest up, I'll fill the mayor in. But uh...” He moves towards her, whispering so Hancock can't hear. “Anything you want me to leave out?”

Wei thinks a moment, and whispers back. “All we need is to find Kellogg. You can tell him what he's done, but leave out the vault.”

“Gotcha.” Nick walks back to Hancock with another puff of his cigarette. “Well mayor, let's get to business.”

Hancock nods. “Right to it, then.” He gives a smile to Wei. “See you around. Let me know if anyone else gives ya trouble, or if you're lookin' for work.”

She nods gruffly, and makes her way into the shadows, heading towards the glaring red light of the Rexford's sign and disappearing into the night.

Once she vanishes, Hancock whips his head around, and puts his arm around Nick's shoulders, a big smile on his face. “Nicky, you GOTTA tell me everything there is to know about that one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, another chapter coming at ya! I'm starting to get my groove going again, so this one is a little better than the last one. and we FINALLY have some Hancock up in this biyotch. Hopefully more on the way soon~


	7. I'm a Gentleman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hancock learns more about Wei, but not nearly enough. Could it be the start of something wonderful?

For a town full of vagabonds, drug addicts, and criminals, Goodneighbor had become really boring as of late. The only recent exciting thing Hancock got to witness was Fahrenheit making an absolute fool of herself trying to flirt with Magnolia, and that was a whole two weeks ago. So when he heard that Nick Valentine was seen making his way to town with some dame, he was practically glued to his balcony trying to spot them entering the town; When he finally spotted them he hardly blinked, desperately trying to make out the details on this mystery woman. _Wonder what her story is?_ he thought to himself, _is she a client, or did Nicky finally move past the flirting stage for once?_ Once they had finally entered the city and Hancock got a good look at her, his curiosity went through the roof. Bandages head to toe? Now THIS he had to see up close. Despite the rocky introduction to his little settlement, she seemed fine with staying the night at Hotel Rexford, which was perfect for him to get all the information he wanted out of the detective.

Once the two of them ascend the spiral staircase, Hancock eagerly shows Valentine to a set of couches in his office. They sit down, the detective still smoking his cigarette while Hancock, sitting across from him, leans forward with his hands on his knees.

“Alright detective. Tell me everything you know.”

Nick raises his brow. “Everything I know? I believe I'm the one with questions, Hancock.”

“Aww come on, Nicky, can't it wait?” He pushes off his knees and fully leans back into the couch cushions. “I need to know about your new friend! We haven''t had anyone new come through in a while, I'm dying for somethin' good.”

“Look,” Nick sighs, “I'll tell you what you want to know, but I really need your help on this case. Think you can do that?”

“Depends,” Hancock crosses his arms, “What would I have to do?”

“I need you to reach out to your contacts, spread the word, help me find a guy.”

“Who's the guy?”

“Kellogg.”

At that, Hancock whistles. “Kellogg, huh? Don't you think that's a bit dangerous? The guy's a killing machine.”

Nick shrugs. “He's about as dangerous as anything else in this wasteland. I don't exactly do this job because it's safe.”

Hancock sighs. “Yeah yeah, I know. But what's the girl's stake in all this?”

Nick laughs dryly. “I wouldn't call her that to her face, if I were you.”

“I'll keep that in mind. But seriously, what's her deal with him?”

Nick pauses for a moment, and speaks softly. “Kellogg killed her husband, and kidnapped her baby boy.”

Hancock's face suddenly gets serious, his smile disappearing in shock. “... Well shit. When did it happen?”

“She's not sure. There's uh... some gaps in her memory. But last she remembers, the kid was still in diapers when he was taken.” Nick reaches into his coat pocket, pulling out his notebook. He tears out a sheet and writes a few things down before handing it over. 

“Here's the details you need to know. The kid's name is Li. Chinese descent. He could be a baby, but he could also be older than that. We don't know for sure. Best bet is probably just to look for Kellogg.”

Hancock takes the paper in his hand and stares at it for a moment. That woman, Wei... He certainly wouldn't have pinned her as a widow, much less a mother. Though she seemed like she had a hard outer shell, he supposes there could be such softness at her core. If he was curious before, now he is certainly intrigued. But, there would be time for that later. Best to observe from a distance for the time being. After all, she clearly has a mission to do.

“Alright Nicky.” Hancock nods, as he slips the paper into his coat pocket. “I'll put the word out, see if any caravans passing through saw the guy. It'll take time, but if he's still around, we'll find him.”

Nick smiles, a slight sigh of relief escaping from his chest. “Thank you, Hancock. Mm, I suppose I owe you some answers to some questions now.”

“You're damn right! Spill the beans, detective.”

–------------------------------------

After trying to get information out of Nick for almost an hour, Hancock pretty much gave up. Either Nick was told to keep secrets, or she's keeping everything to herself. All he found out from him was that she was a private person, her bandages are the result of a serious injury (not from ghoulification) and that she's absolutely ruthless in a fight. For a moment, while Nick was retelling the story of their journey over, he could have sworn he felt his heart flutter. There had been a part of him that wondered if their meeting made her uncomfortable, but with what Nick said about her bashing a raider's head in with a bat, he wasn't so concerned about that anymore. That woman was a force of nature, and he wanted so badly to be there next time she went on a path of destruction, just to see her at work.

But, as he sits on the couch in his office, bored out of his mind with Fahrenheit's morning report, he realizes that may be a bit unrealistic. He was mayor after all, and he can't just walk out on that, can he?

“Oh, and that woman that came in with Valentine--”

“Huh? What about her? She still around?” Hancock says a bit too excitedly.

Fahrenheit rolls her eyes. “Oh NOW I get your attention. Maybe I should have sprinkled appearances of this newcomer through the report so you'd pay attention for once.”

“Fahr, you know there's nothing I love more than hearing about the same bar fight over and over every morning. But I need a bit of variety once in a while.” He grins.

“Not my fault if the report gets stagnant. Sometimes people get into a routine, _mayor_.”

“Yeah yeah, so what about the lady?”

“She caused a bit of a stir. You know that guy in the yellow suit? Says he worked for Vault Tec?”

Hancock raises a brow. “Yeah? What about him?”

Fahrenheit crosses her arms. “Well, she had him running scared right to us. He's refusing to go back to the hotel as long as she's there.”

Hancock frowns in thought. “That's odd. What'd he say?”

She shrugs. “Nothing yet, he's still pissing himself. Want me to bring him in?”

“Please do.”

With a sigh, Fahrenheit walks slowly out of the room and up the stairs. Only a few minutes go by before she is back in the room, with an extremely nervous looking ghoul trailing behind her. He scrunches his fedora in his hands, and when she gestures for him to sit, he lowers himself down onto the couch cautiously.

“Uh, h-hello Mr. Mayor. If I may ask, wh-what is this about?”

“Well, Mr. Vault-Tec, I was hoping you would enlighten me as to why you came running from the hotel.” Hancock leans forward on his elbows, lacing his fingers together. “Not that I mind guests, of course, but usually you keep to yourself in your hotel room. What gives?”

The tec crumples his hat a bit more, casting his gaze to the side and avoiding eye contact. “It's just... There's someone there I really don't want to see.”

“The woman with the bandages, correct?”

“Y-yes...”

Hancock hums in thought, and looked at the ghoul more intensely. “So, what did she do?”

“N-Nothing, I left before she could see me.”

“And yet you ran?”

He nods solemnly, looking down at the fedora in his lap. “I... I never thought I would see her again.”

Hancock and Fahrenheit look at each other in surprise. Leaning forward a bit more, Hancock cocks his brow and looks at the tec intently. “You two have a fling or something?”

Suddenly the tec looks up from his lap, frantically waving his hands. “No! No no no, nothing like that. I-I only met her in person once! Truthfully, I-I only knew who she was from hearing her name and voice.”

Hancock ignores the slight feeling of relief in his chest, and continues. “Then why the fear? I admit she's one dangerous looking lady, but still. She threaten you the last time you met?”

The tec shakes his head, his expression growing dark and the hoarseness of his voice seemingly amplified. “No, it's not what she did it's... She shouldn't be alive. She should have been long dead by now.”

Hancock furrows his brow. “Why's that?”

The tec hesitates, briefly glancing at Fahrenheit, who gives him a very stern glare. He gulps and looks back at the mayor. “The first and last time I saw her.... Was just before the bombs dropped.”

A shocked silence fills the room. Even Fahrenheit looks visibly surprised, but Hancock keeps going

“That's impossible.” He says, jabbing his pointer finger at the tec. “I've got it on good authority that she's not a ghoul. How can she be walking around as a human if she's over 200 years old?”

“That's what I want to know!” The tec shouts, his expression suddenly looking angry. “Last I saw, she, her husband, and her kid were entering the vault I was supposed to be in! It should have been ME in there!”

Hancock rubs his chin, deep in thought. “So she was in a vault... Those places are known for doing some weird experiments on people. Maybe the vault was experimenting with some... life extending drug?”

“Not everything is about drugs, mayor.” Fahrenheit scoffs, earning her a middle finger from Hancock.

“That has to be it... There must have been something in that vault that extended her life.” The tec runs a hand over his head, his fingers grazing over the ridges of his irradiated skin. “Some people have all the luck.”

“I wouldn't say that...” Hancock mumbles. He stands up, groaning from the strain. “Well, thanks for your time. This has been... interesting. You can stay in the building if you want, I don't care. But don't go bothering her, ya dig?”

The tec nods slowly, standing and putting his now wrinkled hat onto his head. He walks out without a word, and Hancock moves to the balcony with Fahrenheit coming up behind him.

“Well,” she sighs, “looks like there's even more to this lady than we thought.”

Hancock hums in agreement, casting his gaze out to the square below and watching his citizens go about their business. “She's certainly worth keeping an eye on. Maybe I'll send a job her way, see her work firsthand.”

Fahrenheit nods, crossing her arms as she leans on the doorway. “So, you gonna follow her around like a puppy until she talks to you?”

“Hey now, I'm a gentleman.” Hancock grins, ignoring the laugh from his compatriot in response. “I'll do a bit of poking around, but I won't bother her. She's going through quite a lot, remember?”

Just in time, he manages to catch the sight of Wei and Nick at the door. The detective tips his hat, she nods in return, but only Nick leaves Goodneighbor. She turns, her pace slow but determined, and she moves towards the shops adjacent to the mayoral building. As she walks she looks up at the balcony, her eyes meeting his for the briefest of moments, before she enters KL-E-0's shop out of sight.

Hancock smiles and lets out a purring hum. “Mmm, I guess I could bother her a little bit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Bet you thought I forgot about this fic. Sorry about that, eheh. Truth is, I've been busy with multiple other projects and haven't had the time or energy to work on this fic. Buuuut I needed dialogue practice, so I thought I'd update this pet project of mine. I promise I won't give up on this! More updates to come~


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